Born in 1828 in Nunda, New York, Andrew J. Russell worked as a portrait and landscape painter as a young man. In 1862, he organized a local militia unit for service in the Civil War and he learned the craft of photography along the way. Several years later in 1868, he began a project to document the construction of the Union Pacific railroad during its long march to its meeting point with the...

Even though Route 66 hasn't formally existed in twenty years, it is part of America's love affair with cars, travel, and getting lost. This excellent travel itinerary created by the National Park Service's Heritage Education Services "aids the public to visit the historic places that recall those images and experiences that are reminders of our past and evidence of the influence of the...

This marvelous digital collection draws on materials held in the collection of Southern Methodist University's DeGolyer Library. The Library holds over 500,000 images that document the American West, borderlands, exploration, and the development of the Western railroads. This particular collection brings together over 540 digitized items, including Alexander Gardner's 1867 portfolio, "Across the...